Second Grade (Grade 2) Short Stories (Non-Fiction) Questions

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Did you know that dolphins have feelings? Like humans, dolphins can feel happy and sad. If a dolphin dies, the other dolphins become very sad . They stop and say goodbye to their friend. Then they swim away.

Dolphins show other emotions too. When dolphins do something good, they squeak . They celebrate reaching a goal. They also look forward to the reward . Dolphins are good problem-solvers. They try many different ways to solve problems. They also imitate. This means they copy the actions of each other and humans.

In the wild, dolphins are also extremely happy. They are also playful . They like to blow water and jump around. They play chase and have other fun out in the water. Some dolphins will race beside boats they see pass by. Sometimes they will even come up to say hello .

Have you ever eaten a fortune cookie? A fortune cookie is a special type of cookie occasionally served with Chinese food and it has a special surprise hidden inside. Each fortune cookie contains a slip of paper that has a special fortune printed on it. The cookies are made in a special pocket-type shape which leaves the perfect space for the paper to fit inside.

Fortune cookies have a place in history . During the 14th century, a Taoist priest sent messages to Chinese rebels by hiding them inside moon cakes. In 19th and early 20th century America, Chinese railroad workers gave cakes filled with holiday messages to their friends during the holidays. But the modern-day fortune cookie was most likely created not by someone from China , but someone from Japan.

Makoto Hagiwara was a restaurant owner in San Francisco. He served fortune cookies with tea at his restaurant. To make the cookies, Hagiwara made a basic batter out of flour, sugar, eggs, and water. He would make the dough into circles, bake it, and add the fortune just before it cooled . Then he would quickly fold cookie into its popular shape.

Today, fortune cookies are made by machines. Once the cookies are baked, vacuums suck the fortunes into the cookies before the cookies are folded . The folding process traps the fortune inside. Some machines even allow people to insert their own fortunes. They have used fortunes for marriage proposal, holiday greetings, and even funny messages .

Have you ever eaten a fortune cookie? A fortune cookie is a special type of cookie occasionally served with Chinese food and it has a special surprise hidden inside. Each fortune cookie contains a slip of paper that has a special fortune printed on it. The cookies are made in a special pocket-type shape which leaves the perfect space for the paper to fit inside.

Fortune cookies have a place in history . During the 14th century, a Taoist priest sent messages to Chinese rebels by hiding them inside moon cakes . In 19th and early 20th century America, Chinese railroad workers gave cakes filled with holiday messages to their friends during the holidays. But the modern-day fortune cookie was most likely created not by someone from China , but someone from Japan.

Makoto Hagiwara was a restaurant owner in San Francisco. He served fortune cookies with tea at his restaurant. To make the cookies, Hagiwara made a basic batter out of flour, sugar , eggs, and water. He would make the dough into circles, bake it, and add the fortune just before it cooled . Then he would quickly fold cookie into its popular shape .

Today, fortune cookies are made by machines . Once the cookies are baked, vacuums suck the fortunes into the cookies before the cookies are folded . The folding process traps the fortune inside. Some machines even allow people to insert their own fortunes. They have used fortunes for marriage proposal, holiday greetings, and even funny messages .

Did you know that dolphins have feelings? Like humans, dolphins can feel happy and sad. If a dolphin dies , the other dolphins become very sad. They stop and say goodbye to their friend. Then they swim away.

Dolphins show other emotions too. When dolphins do something good , they squeak. They celebrate reaching a goal . They also look forward to the reward. Dolphins are good problem-solvers. They try many different ways to solve problems. They also imitate. This means they copy the actions of each other and humans.

In the wild, dolphins are also extremely happy. They are also playful. They like to blow water and jump around. They play chase and have other fun out in the water. Some dolphins will race beside boats they see pass by. Sometimes they will even come up to say hello.

People yawn for many reasons. They yawn when they wake up. They yawn when they go to sleep . They yawn when they are bored. They yawn when their ears are plugged up. They yawn when they see other yawns.

Humans aren't the only creatures that yawn. Dogs yawn. Cats yawn . Even birds yawn. Fish yawn too . Humans can even yawn when they're still in the womb.

What is a yawn? It's a movement of the muscles in your chest, mouth, and throat. Yawning helps wet tiny air sacs in your lungs .

People can't yawn on command . When they feel a yawn coming on, it's really hard to stop it. Scientists aren't sure why people yawn. Hippocrates was an ancient scientist . He thought yawning was a way to remove bad air from the lungs. In the 17th century other scientists studied yawning. They thought yawning increased your heart rate. They also thought it helped the level of oxygen in the blood. Today, scientists think yawning has to do with changing states. You yawn when you go from awake to asleep . You yawn when you go from asleep to awake . You also may yawn to go from alert to bored.

One thing is for certain - yawning is contagious. When you see someone yawn, your brain tells you to yawn too. It's a way to help you feel what others are feeling.

People yawn for many reasons. They yawn when they wake up. They yawn when they go to sleep. They yawn when they are bored. They yawn when their ears are plugged up. They yawn when they see other yawns.

Humans aren't the only creatures that yawn. Dogs yawn. Cats yawn. Even birds yawn. Fish yawn too . Humans can even yawn when they're still in the womb.

What is a yawn? It's a movement of the muscles in your chest, mouth, and throat. Yawning helps wet tiny air sacs in your lungs .

People can't yawn on command. When they feel a yawn coming on, it's really hard to stop it. Scientists aren't sure why people yawn. Hippocrates was an ancient scientist . He thought yawning was a way to remove bad air from the lungs. In the 17th century other scientists studied yawning. They thought yawning increased your heart rate. They also thought it helped the level of oxygen in the blood. Today, scientists think yawning has to do with changing states. You yawn when you go from awake to asleep. You yawn when you go from asleep to awake . You also may yawn to go from alert to bored.

One thing is for certain - yawning is contagious. When you see someone yawn, your brain tells you to yawn too. It's a way to help you feel what others are feeling.

If you look at a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, you might think something is wrong with your eyes. You’d be wrong. There’s nothing wrong your eyes, but there is something wrong with the tower. As the name suggests, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is leaning.

Construction on the Leaning Tower of Pisa started in 1173. Its foundation was poured on soft subsoil. At first, the tower did not lean because it was not very heavy. The soil was able to support its weight. However, about five years after construction began, workers started to add the second story. This was too much weight for the soil. One side of the tower started to sink into the soil. This caused the tower to lean .

Instead of stopping the building process, the construction workers kept on building . They did not know what was causing the lean. The lean got worse as they kept building. However, after around 100 years of working on the tower, they stopped to fight a war . This allowed the tower to settle in the ground. If it had not had time to settle, it would have toppled over. Workers came back after the war and added more to the tower. After around 200 years , workers finished the tower. It still leaned.

In the 1800s, an Italian decided he wanted to show off the tower more. He had workers dig a pathway around the base of the tower. However, the workers struck water. This caused a flood . It made the tower lean even more.

In the 1930s, Benito Mussolini decided he didn’t want the tower to lean anymore. He thought it was an embarrassment to Italy . He had his workers drill holes into the foundation. They filled them with concrete. Instead of keeping the tower from leaning, the cement made it lean even more .

Around 1990, the Italian government decided the Leaning Tower of Pisa was not safe for visitors anymore. They closed the tower for construction. During the construction, they helped decrease the amount of the lean. In 2001, it was open for visitors again. In 2008, engineers examined the tower again . They had good news. The tower was still leaning, but the lean had not changed. That meant the tower was stable. Since the tower is stable , it will likely last a long time. However, it will always have its lean .

If you look at a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, you might think something is wrong with your eyes. You’d be wrong. There’s nothing wrong your eyes, but there is something wrong with the tower. As the name suggests, the Leaning Tower of Pisa is leaning.

Construction on the Leaning Tower of Pisa started in 1173. Its foundation was poured on soft subsoil. At first, the tower did not lean because it was not very heavy. The soil was able to support its weight. However, about five years after construction began, workers started to add the second story. This was too much weight for the soil. One side of the tower started to sink into the soil. This caused the tower to lean .

Instead of stopping the building process, the construction workers kept on building . They did not know what was causing the lean. The lean got worse as they kept building. However, after around 100 years of working on the tower, they stopped to fight a war . This allowed the tower to settle in the ground. If it had not had time to settle, it would have toppled over. Workers came back after the war and added more to the tower. After around 200 years , workers finished the tower. It still leaned.

In the 1800s, an Italian decided he wanted to show off the tower more. He had workers dig a pathway around the base of the tower. However, the workers struck water. This caused a flood. It made the tower lean even more.

In the 1930s, Benito Mussolini decided he didn’t want the tower to lean anymore. He thought it was an embarrassment to Italy . He had his workers drill holes into the foundation. They filled them with concrete. Instead of keeping the tower from leaning, the cement made it lean even more .

Around 1990, the Italian government decided the Leaning Tower of Pisa was not safe for visitors anymore. They closed the tower for construction. During the construction, they helped decrease the amount of the lean. In 2001, it was open for visitors again. In 2008, engineers examined the tower again . They had good news. The tower was still leaning, but the lean had not changed. That meant the tower was stable. Since the tower is stable, it will likely last a long time. However, it will always have its lean .